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The Great EEOC Roundup: September Edition

 

As always, there are some EEOC cases that jump out at me when I review developments on that front.  Below are a couple EEOC cases and settlements that caught my eye this month.


Lawsuit Filed Against Chipotle for Sexual Harassment & Retaliation

Earlier this month, a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit was filed against Chipotle.  The lawsuit claims that a Tampa location service manager was sexually harassed by a coworker and was unlawfully terminated when a complaint was made.  After the coworker made several suggestive comments to the manager, the conduct escalated to two sexual assaults in one day.  While the prior harassment had already been reported to store management, the manager stated she planned to report the sexual assaults to corporate.  Within three days, the manager was terminated.  This alleged conduct, if true, is in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits discrimination based upon sex and retaliation against workers that complain of the discrimination.


EEOC Brings Suit Against Frito-Lay For Alleged Religious Discrimination

Recently, Frito-Lay (a subsidiary of Pepsi) was sued over a claim that it unlawfully discriminated against an employee because of his religion.  According to the lawsuit, the employee was promoted from a warehouse position to a route sales representative role.  This promotion required the employee to undergo training.  After approximately five weeks of training without having to train on Saturdays, Frito-Lay set a training session for him on a Saturday despite being informed that the employee was a Seventh-day Adventist (and therefore could not work on Saturday because of his religious beliefs.)  After the employee did not report for a training session on two Saturdays, he was terminated.  This alleged conduct is in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits discrimination against employees based on their religion and requires employees to reasonably accommodate an employee’s sincerely held religious beliefs so long as it would not create an undue burden on the employer.


Subway Franchisee Hit With Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

A week ago, a Subway franchisee in Indiana was hit with a disability discrimination lawsuit on the grounds that it unlawfully rejected an applicant that was qualified for the position for which he applied because he was hard of hearing and had a speech impediment.  The lawsuit claims the franchisee cited a “communication concern” due to the applicant’s “hearing” and “speaking.”  This alleged conduct, if true, would be in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act which prohibits discrimination against employees or applicants on the basis of a disability.

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